Contemplating the "Big Switch"...


T

thestumper

New Member
Hi all: I posted this on another forum and wanted to give you all a crack at it as well. Pretty self explanatory. I'm new around here, and I'm eager to start building out a layout, but I'm really on the fence in terms of gauge. I have a lot of HO at the moment, but I don't have permission to build what I want to do at the moment in HO. Read on...

"I've recently returned to the world of model trains and I'm at a junction (no pun intended...). I've always been an HO guy - I like the size/detail ratio and I like the variety. However, it would appear to me that N gauge has come a long way and is getting better everyday. My big problem right now is space - I like long runs with long trains, and recent conversations with my better half suggest that I will NOT be getting the space I would like anytime in the near future. 8x10 for HO just isn't getting it done for me at this point - there's just too much I want to do, and I don't like the turn radius restrictions for longer cars and engines. But... 8x10 in N scale would allow me to build a comparatively huge layout with lot of variety. I've actually download track plan software and sketched out a N layout - I was amazed with all the functionality I could build into it with room left over for future expansion.

I know this is the 'N' forum, so my guess is I'll find mostly pro-N responses here, so I may post in the HO forum to get that side of it as well. For now, what has been the experience of the "switchers" (HO to N)? Was it worth it? What did you feel like you gave up? Am I missing something?

Thanks, and sorry for the long first post, but I'm excited to be here and I hope to get some good advice moving forward!

Thanks!!!

PS: Into PRR and UP. Some interest in NS and CSX at this point because its all around me. I favor passenger, but I'm getting more into freight - especially intermodal with newer engines."
 
no need to post it on 'the other side" , we all read same forum.

the topic is highly subjective. i was exactly in your situation, perhaps even better as i didn't own anything. N was really the better solution. but i just couldn't bring myself to love it. was just to small. i'm in HO with perhaps limited layout and looking back today still not sorry . but then again some say N is not that small when you get to know it....
 
I made the switch from HO to N in 1969 because I could get so much more in the same space. I have stayed with N even though I have a 32' x 32' train room. With N, I have a single deck layout. If I was in HO I would have had to go to at least 2 decks and would not be able to run an equivalent radius to the 27" main line radius I am using in N.

Glenn
 
I switched to N scale when I was at college, no space in the apt. for HO. Stayed with it because of that. Have a 20x13 layout. I am not against HO, may have to go back when the eyesight requires it:rolleyes: Have you ever noticed thou, due to eyesight perspective, a 20 car N scale train looks much longer than a 20 car HO train?
 
I am in the middle of making the switch at the moment. So far, the only problem I have is cost. Common thinking would be that if N is about half the size as HO, shouldn't things be half the price? They certainly are not. Even switches. My local shop has all the track together on one wall. The cost of an Atlas switch in N is the same as for its HO version. Not much different with building cost either. It is hard to overcome that thought, but everything has been nice so far with little regrets you may have to deal with. The concessions I made with my wife over layout space led to the switch and the agreement that ALL my HO go. Hard to watch some of that stuff get sold.

Hey have fun with either choice cause in the end thats what it should be is fun.

Bud
 
I recently made the HO to N switch from code 100 HO to Kato N Scale Unitrack. While there is a expense associated with Unitrack, it works the first time and every time. Well worth the switch and of course the Kato engines are flawless as well. I will never go back. However I will still keep the HOn3 for the Christmas tree layout!
 
I just decided to make the switch (more like addition) to N scale myself. When I first got back into trains last fall, I dabbled with N scale, but found it too sensitive for what I was using it for (essentially a desktop loop to run trains on while I was sitting at the computer), and sold off what little N scale stuff I had before. It's not quite as sensitive when the track is permanently fixed to a layout. I've built an HO layout, and was contemplating building an O scale, but opted against the O scale due to the limited track plans for smaller spaces and the added expense of the O scale track.

I've already picked up a new N scale locomotive and am eagerly looking forward to coming up with a track plan.

Regards,
Shannon
 
myself, I made the switch a couple of years ago. I'd say that the big pros are being able to run much longer trains (If I had 40 cars I could run them).
The drawbacks are - you trade some detail and weight (a bigger boxcar feels heavier and just...better), and you definitely trade down to a smaller product base. Just compare the size of the Walthers HO catalog to the Walthers N scale, and you'll see right away that some of the items you wanted to buy - now you can't. So, it's just one of those things you have to live with if you lack the space for a huge HO layout.
However, some people (as mentioned above) love the amount of scenery you can put in an N scale layout. So a 36X36 room you'd need 78X78 feet for a matching HO scale layout..
Aside from those small drawbacks, N scale is great. I'd need a 20X14 layout space to do my layout in if it was HO - and it's fitting in a spare bedroom!
 
I just added N scale to "The Collection"

I started with a Kato M1 Oval and haven't stop ordering online. ;)

I'm really impressed with the level of detail on my cars. The Kato GE GEVO ES44AC runs very smooth from just barely moving to wide open.

My oval at present covers the Dining room table. :D

Since I have ordered 20 freight cars I will need more track, and maybe an other engine :eek:
 
I've just switched to N scale, when track planning it just felt more fluid and workable in my space...I hope I'm satisfied!
I focus mainly on the scene, not so much the train - you'll never find me building a scene 4" deep, or without a backdrop. I like big scenery and scenery that implies it's big - and that's the main reason I switched to N...I prefer HO scale rolling stock.
 
I have done trains for about 30 years , had all scales , still have N ,G , little HO and I have switched many times but N has REALLY come a long way and take such small area. It seems to me to be the logical choice.

I have not looked back for 8 years now.
Yes I am an N-aholic

Mike
 
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